The LEGO Ninjago Movie: piecing together the characters and voice cast for the third LEGO movie

After we were taken under the wing of the utterly awesome The LEGO Batman Movie earlier this year, the second spin-off from the team who assembled 2014's The LEGO Movie is about to burst on our screens.

Actually, there’s a little bit of a wait, as The LEGO Ninjago Movieis assembling in UK cinemas on 13th October.
This spin-off gives the LEGO Movie franchise a new spin with an Eastern flavour as a martial arts-led 3D computer-animated action-comedy, directed by Charlie Bean and based on the LEGO Ninjago toy series. Here's what you need to know.

And the writing is in a safe pair of old hands with the Hageman brothers, Dan and Kevin, as the main writers for the film adaptation.
They previously co-wrote the story of The LEGO Movie and wrote Cartoon Network's long-running hit animated TV show LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu that began in 2011.

Fans of the TV series can expect plenty of new stuff as the plot is planned to diverge significantly from the one they know on the small screen.

The movie

In the Hageman brothers’ story, an old master called Sensei Wu (Jackie Chan) takes on and trains six teenagers, who become gifted ninja hero warriors by night. He instructs the teenage ninjas in the ways of an ancient battle art called Spinjitzu, an elemental spinning movement faster than any regular fighting style.

Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, Lloyd and Nya then find themselves on thrilling quests to defeat monsters, riding their awesome fleet of vehicles and dragons to defend their far-away island homeland of Ninjago and its capital city. The slight problem for the sextet though is that, while they are using their super-skills to fight villains and monsters by night, they are just ordinary teens struggling against their greatest enemy of high school by day.

As the title suggests, the movie is set in the fictional island world of Ninjago, which is inspired by East Asian myths and culture. The land is divided between Ninjago and the Dark Island, where the Overlord once lived. It has an underworld, where evil beings such as the Skulkins skulk, together with sacred places where old stuff is hidden or long forgotten, such as the Serpentine tombs or the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master.